Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Come out some time in the next two weeks and check out my MFA thesis show. Thanks to all those who helped with it along its long road.

November 12-26

Alexander Hall,668 Indian St, Savannah, GA.

Reception to be held on November 16th from 5-7 pm

Gender is not a reflection of one’s biological make up, but a construction based on the society in which they live, and the ideas and values of that society. Individuals choose various signifiers to tell others what groups they choose to identify with.

Flu[XX] explores the capacity for a single being to navigate between the external expressions of their ever shifting, multi-faceted, (self) identification. Simply by not subscribing to the standard square or rectangular format, this work exists out side of the traditional uses within the medium of photography. Through digital manipulation and collaging, it challenges the single image. The multifaceted constructions relates back to the constructed nature of gender and its various subtleties and nuances. This work falls into its own undefended place between dualisms of traditional photography.

Monday, November 12, 2007

November 9th was the closing reception for the joint MFA Thesis show of Sarah Jones, The Anchorage and Katharine Wright, Decay Constant at Alexander Hall in Savannah, Ga. This joining of two very different bodies of work was an amazing choice by the two artists because, despite the fact they are so different in visual style, they are similar in content. Jones’s work documents the ‘compulsive nature of collecting, which in turn reveals a great deal about the collectors themselves.’ Her photographs were all taken at her grandparents homestead name The Anchorage and depicted everything from piles of books and boxes to quarters in egg crates, family photos and a Southern stable, the Confederate flag, which is, according to the artist, “heritage not hatred.” Like the generations before us who had seen hard times and knew the value fixing something instead of buying new, Jones’s grandparents were afraid to let any thing go for the possibility that it might be of use someday. The images ranged form postcards to posters in size and were hung salon style. Jones choice in frames, mismatched and aged wood, is a great addition to the work, giving the viewer the feeling that these images had been pulled from the house itself. Totaling in almost 50 images, it seems that Jones would be commenting on the collecting nature of her grandparents by collecting images of their decaying home.

Wright’s work is an investigation of ‘her world and the anxiety she feels about …the eventual loss of those closest to her.’ Done in a poetic manner with unusual cropping, Wright depicts those people and moments around her that, with her camera, she attempts to hold on to. The title alone Decay Constant suggest continual change and Wright is comment on the photograph’s nature to freeze time and become a surrogate. She expresses this concept further with her instillation pieces and with their choice of medium, wax, ice and formaldehyde. In glass jars, these substances hold something precious, such as a love letter, and try to preserve it, but in doing so have, in a way, ruined the object it was supposed to protect.

Both Jones’s and Wright’s show comment on our ever changes world and the ways in which we try to hold on to our collective past. There is, in both series, a sense of loss that that the artist is trying to evade by using objects as surrogate for the people closest to them and their own fond memories.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

It seems to be becoming a tradition for SCAD grad students from Savannah to head out to Atlanta in the fall to see some great work and hang out with their counter parts in the Big Peach.That was the case on Thursday November 8th when SCAD Atlanta hosted the Fall Open Studio Night. The even was well attended and just a much fun this year as it was last year, even if the students from Savannah were a bit underrepresented. We, some of my fellow grad students and I, went to check out our work in the juried show as well as try to see the ever awesome Steve Aishman (shown here with Sav turned Alt grad Denise Lira).

After checking out the awesome works and having a little chat with Tom Fischer, we met up with Atl grad student Walker Pickering who thought it would be great to interview us for their website PhotoAwesome.com (keep checking to see highlights of the night). This lead to a great dinner with Walker, David Allen Jones and a few others. The conversation revolved around the two departments and general comparison between them. It was a great way to meet some new cool folks and have a few contacts in Atlanta. I look forward to hearing from these guys and see what they come up with on PhotoAwesome. I hope they can make it to Savannah in the spring for our Open Studio Night (here's me hoping we have one and do as great a job as the Atlanta program has!)

Here are a few instillation shots of some of the great photography we saw.

Steffanie Halley

Shana D'Attilio

Katie Wright

Thank to the Atlanta grad students and Steve Aishman for a great show. Don't for get to check out PhotoAwesome.com and SCADPhoto.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

So I am getting ready for my up coming thesis show flu[xx]. I have one print left to print and I have cut out three prints, but more on that later.

I have noticed when I am stressed the counter in me tends to come forward. I will count steps, usually until I hit 30 or so, and then stop but some times keep going just for fun. It is 30 steps from where my computer is to the front door and from my bed room in at my home in CT to the kitchen to get a snack. This brings me to some thing new that I would like to explore, my like of prime numbers and repeating patters, as well as connections between these numbers. I find myself adding prime together and see where it goes. Today it started with this. I just began adding to try to get prime numbers and wanted to see where it went. Well this lead to other things. I began to draw an my paper and when I flipped this over I did a drawing on the back of the view from our cabin in Maine.

Images of Maine are not something new for me, when I am homesick or just want to draw something, that is usually what comes out. So in this one there are many of the fun things I would do as a kid there, such as boating and fishing. There is also one or our dogs swimming. I guess when people say to 'go to your happy place' that is where I go.

The next thing I came up with though, came straight of out of the conversation where I was as well as the invented math.

This is an images of our well at home, because we got talking about city water vs. well water and I went from there. I enjoy drawing and know I am not really that great at it but I figure oh well, it is fun. Maybe something will come of it at some point but for right now it is a fun way to explore ideas of home with the ideas of the invented math. Keep and eye out for more, as well as show info.